


In A Diner by the Hudson River

by RomeoandAntoinette



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Banter, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Holding Hands, M/M, Offscreen Kiss, Pining, Pizza, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 11:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20741462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomeoandAntoinette/pseuds/RomeoandAntoinette
Summary: Following the events of Shadow Moses, David and Hal discuss how far they've come together and much they've grown. Takes place between MGS1 and MGS2. [Snake/Otacon.]





	In A Diner by the Hudson River

“So, the United Nations officially said that they’re recognizing Philanthropy as a viable, anti-Metal Gear organization. We’re in the green.”

The sentence hit David right as he was mid-bite into a slice of pizza. After biting down and chewing the doughy crust long enough, he was able to swallow without choking. However, was unable to swallow the surprised expression.

“Seriously?” he asked.

His partner eyed him from across the table.

“Yes, _seriously_,” Hal accused with lofted brow. “C’mon. Did you really doubt us that much?”

“Well…” David mumbled softly. He made a last-ditch effort to feign innocence by diverting his gaze out the window. It was so dark outside that all he caught reflected in the glass was his own guilty expression.

Hal saw it too. In fact, it was so obvious that it made him snort with laughter. “You totally did!”

Although it was more a chuckle than a guffaw, the sound was akin to a jet engine taking off compared to the eerie silence of the restaurant they two were holed up in. Then again, it was 3 a.m. in the morning on the coast of New York. The decrepit diner slash pizzeria was the only place open past midnight within walking distance of their hideout. At least it had a brilliant view of the Hudson River and was completely vacant of people, save for a sparse number of employees that had to be present to cater to the shoestring line of customers that ambled in.

Plus, as David was finding out, they made damn good pizza. Or perhaps years of being in the military and living off battlefield rations and dulled his taste buds beyond salvation.

He only grumbled as Hal continued to eye smartly him from across the table, like a cat that had swallowed a canary. He balled up a nearby napkin to funnel his anxiety. “I…didn’t doubt us, per say.”

The confession piqued Hal’s seemingly endless curiosity. “Then who or what did you? Doubt, I mean.”

“Everyone except us,” he replied shortly. Chapped fingers, all crooked from being broken multiple times, curled into the coarse material. “You know what I mean?”

Hal’s eyes softened almost instantly. “Yeah, I think I do.”

In David’s brain, politics equaled drama most of the time. That was why he wisely left the political, hacktivist efforts to Hal and tried to keep his brain focused solely on what he excelled in: covert ops and stealth. ‘Nitty-gritty bullshit,’ as he commonly referred to it, only to receive disapproving looks for his detail-oriented partner.

“So, partner, what good is UN recognition if you’re still going to hack files out of the Pentagon?” David volleyed smartly. The smirk on his face oozed with snark.

This time, Hal was the one to pout. “Well, the recognition alone adds to our reputation!”

“Gives us more skin in the game, huh?” David rephrased. "In-between hacking their information illegally, right?"

“Well, sure,” Hal relented. "It that helps you, then yes."

Finally, perhaps hungered by his growing frustration, Hal reached for a slice of cooling pizza and took a bite. After a few seconds of what Dave assumed to be stunned silence, their eyes reconnected. “Wow. That’s really good.”

“Right?” David replied, unable to surpass a smile. “I’ve been waiting for you to take a bite because I thought I was crazy or something.”

It took a few more bites to devour the slab up to the golden-tinged crust. “Well, you’re still crazy. But not about this.”

The two shared a bout of laughter. While a mere year had passed since the incident at Shadow Moses, the two had gone through so much together that it felt like ten years had passed. In their heads, they felt like they’d been friends for decades.

It had taken a bit of getting used to, but the situation had forced their hands. Forming Philanthropy and keeping up the charade of the legendary Solid Snake’s MIA status required a lot of mental energy and attention. Feelings of awkwardness or hesitation about sharing close quarters had been instantly resigned to the back burner in order to focus on more pressing matters. Items at the top of said lost included tasks like ‘Avoiding Assassins’ or ‘Knowing the Nearest Exit.’ Concern over life-or-death priorities squashed any and all hesitation about sharing showers or beds. One time, they’d even shared a quick kiss while pretending to be a married couple at airport security in St. Louis before heading to the deeper south for reconnaissance.

Case in point, they were so close that they didn’t even feel close. Rather, they were already one. A unit. A team. Partners.

The two continued to eat.

After the first slice, Hal’s head dipped so he could readjust his glasses. The humidity of the summer night was making the lenses fog constantly.

Dave frowned and lowered both hands back on the crumb-dusted table between them.

“Bet you never thought you’d go to MIT and Princeton only to be chowing down on pizza with some washed-up old guy,” Dave quipped.

No barriers. No codenames. No Snake and Otacon.

When they were alone, they shed all other unnecessary adornments and pleasantries.

They were just Dave and Hal.

Two grown-ass men in oversized sweatshirts eating pizza at 3 a.m. next to the Hudson River.

“At least it’s good pizza,” Hal offered mildly. Then, he flicked his wrist and slipped his glasses frames back onto his face. “The old guy isn’t bad either.”

Dave laughed despite himself. The man didn’t usually enjoy rogue compliments, but Hal had an odd effect on him.

“I’ll second the pizza part,” Dave agreed. "Can't say the same for the coffee though."

While he'd devoured multiple slices, he'd barely touched his mug despite the heaviness of his eyelids. The grease from the doughy entree wasn’t doing any favors for his exhaustion either.

“Yeah, I still think the best coffee we had was at that one place in Wyoming,” Hal offered dreamily after one of the waitresses sauntered past their table and automatically refilled his cup. It had to have been the third or fourth time. When it came to Hal and coffee, Dave knew better than to intervene.

David gave him his most blasé stare. “Um. If I recall correctly, it was so strong that I could only take one sip. Hell, my clothes smelled like the stuff for a week just from being near a pot of the stuff. I think the fumes could have peeled the paint off the ceiling.”

“I know,” Hal said. “It was great, wasn’t it?”

David sighed in exhaustion, but the sound lacked any true bitterness. 

“Where the hell did we stop after Wyoming…?” Dave pondered aloud. “Oh, yeah. Missouri.”

Hal blinked, then laughed. “Huh? Oh, yeah. When we were 'newlyweds', right?”

The memory of the kiss crashed into him. The feeling of Hal's lips on his, although brief, had seared every nerve of his body. He lifted to mug to his face hastily and suffered through a prolonged sip. It was worth it to hide his sudden blush.

“We got word about some suspicious activity about a prison in the Ozarks,” David recounted. The memory threatened his train of thought too obviously for his liking if he dwelled on it for too long. “We thought they might be using one of the institutions on the Arkansas border as a cover-up for the production of military-grade artillery. All I had to take in was a Beretta 92FS, but you were still able to mod it with a tranquilizer."

The man returned a smile. "Hey. Do no harm if you can avoid it, right?"

The booth creaked as David reclined and crossed his arms. "Tell me about it. Even back then, you never wanted to hurt anyone."

Eyes flashed at him from over the chipped coffee mug rim. It was unlike Dave to be so nostalgic, and it was making Hal suspicious. “You really remember all of that?”

“I do.”

“…I remember that weird, gooey powder sugar cake,” Hal reminded him with a smile. “You know, from the St. Louis bakery.”

“Now, that was good,” Dave conceded. “Sugary as shit, but one slab of that stuff kept us awake all night.”

“And then some,” Hal recalled.

Another peal of laughter. David was still getting used to the casual small talk and joking around. He'd spent so many of his early days as a musher completely alone in Alaska with nothing but his dogs and way too many bottles of booze. 

Prior to meeting Hal, the idea of talking about anything except mission details—let alone joking around with someone over a meal—has been foreign. Now, such occasions were welcomely becoming more frequent. 

“So, Wyoming had the best coffee and St. Louis had the best dessert,” Hal said while creating a tally with his fingers.

“And now, it looks like the rumors are true,” David laughed before gesturing to the almost empty platter between them. “New York has the best pizza.”

“Now I’ll second _that_,” Hal parroted with a celebratory raise of his mug. David followed suit and raised his own cup in solidarity. The gentle clinking of the rims rang out like the toll of a church bell in the otherwise silent restaurant.

As they drained the gritty sludge at the bottom of their mugs, David felt his head buzz with warmth. Maybe it was due to the sudden boost in caffeine, but David almost immediately noticed Hals restless tapping on the handle of his mug and the way his eyes bounce like ping pong balls from the ceiling to the tabletop. 

"Out with it. What's on your mind?"

A guilty sigh escaped Hal's lips.

“I just…can't believe we’re making progress,” Hal said. The man lowered his head onto the crook of his elbow and let his eyes flutter shut. "It...feels great. We're on the right track. I can feel it."

David took a beat to study his partner's expression. The younger man's visage looked so calm. Normally, his companion's face was pinched in constant anxiety or studious determination as he pounded a keyboard before the blue-tinted glare of a computer screen. Seeing Hal look so tranquil filled the world-famous agent with a sense of pride unlike anything he'd ever felt after a mission. The only time he'd felt anything even remotely similar was with his dogs. As a musher, he'd always prized his dogs' safety over everything else. Getting through a successful transport with his whole, four-legged team tact was nothing short of addicting. With Hal, that protective spirit was amplified. David knew his dogs like the back of his hand, but Hal was...more of an enigma. Her was a person tortured by turmoil that David couldn't touch with a first-aid kit.

Now, it seemed the inner turmoil had quieted to a dull roar. At least, temporarily. Now, David wanted to protect that peace his friend felt with all his heart and soul.

“Hey now, are you saying that you’re doubting us?” Davis quipped with a condescending grin.

“Jerk.”

There wasn't a hint of regret in David's eyes, which crinkled fondly at his companion's angst. All Hal could do was puff out a cheek and glimpse out the window. Outside, a car alarm started to blare from a few streets over. Lights from fishing boats drifted nearby over the river. The world was starting to wake up around them.

“Man, we really have been all over, huh?” Hal said while biting his lip. “I just can’t believe we’ve only been together for a year. Wow, huh? Talk about crazy.”

“It’s gone by fast,” David agreed.

A nod. “I mean…s’strange.”

His dark eyes stared absently into his cup. The man almost looked lost in thought, but David knew his partner better.

David reached across the table and covered Hal’s free hand with his own. The difference in size was marginal, but the callouses on David’s hands were a penetrating contrast to the keyboard-punching fingers beneath them.

“And just think,” David whispered. A thumb ghosted over Hal’s knuckles as barely suppressed the urge to place a kiss there. “…This is just the beginning.”

**Author's Note:**

> Gooey butter cake is delicious. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> If you're interested, please feel free to check me out on Tumblr [romeo-and-antoinette]. I write about a lot of fics and like to answer questions and take requests a lot. So, if you ever have fun fics ideas, drop them there. ;)


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